Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
90 results(4 / 4)
Urban cultivation in allotments maintains soil qualities adversely affected by conventional agriculture
2014Jill L. Edmondson, Zoe G. Davies, Kevin J. Gaston, Jonathan R. Leake · Journal of Applied Ecology · United Kingdom
This study compared soil quality indicators (soil organic carbon storage, total nitrogen, C:N ratio, and bulk density) in urban allotments, surrounding agricultural land, and other urban greenspaces in a typical UK city. Allotment soils showed 32% higher soil organic carbon concentrations and 36% higher C:N ratios than pastures and arable fields, and 25% higher total nitrogen and 10% lower bulk density than arable soils. The study reported no significant difference in soil organic carbon concentration between allotments and urban non-domestic greenspaces, but it was higher in domestic gardens beneath woody vegetation.
CommunityOrganic cycleConvergence on Sustainable Lifestyles? Mechanisms of Change and Resistance in a French Allotment
2014Géraldine Farges · Sociologia Ruralis · France
This one-year ethnographic study analyzed the integration of pro-environmental practices among amateur gardeners in a French urban allotment. Through observations and repeat interviews, it found that while gardeners adopted new techniques, the meanings of their practices and their environmental relationships differed. The diffusion of pro-environmental practices was not systematically linked to shared concerns, and practices were interpreted differently by policymakers and individuals.
CommunityOrganic cyclePolicyDevelopment of the Environmental, Social and Economic Sustainability in the Peri-Urban Agricultural Areas: Governance Opportunities in the South Milan Agricultural Park
2014Anna Gaviglio, Alberto Pirani, Mattia Bertocchi · Advanced engineering forum · Italy (Milan)
This study assessed the environmental, social, and economic sustainability of farms within the South Milan Agricultural Park (PASM), based on interactions between the Milan metropolitan area and surrounding agricultural activities. The survey was conducted using an indicator-based tool to compare farms, with data collected from various sources. Results indicated that PASM's efforts provided valid economic tools for large multifunctional farms, deeply tied to the local context through services like direct sales, short chains, and agritourism, contributing to improved environmental conditions and landscape. However, large and small specialized farms lacking these income sources did not receive equal contribution.
Peri-urban agriculturePolicyEconomicsOrganic cycleGarden Culture of the Twentieth Century (Gartenkultur des 20. Jahrhunderts)
2013Migge L., Haney D. H. · Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection (Ex Horto series); Harvard University Press · Germany
An annotated English translation (edited and introduced by David H. Haney) of Migge's foundational 1913 treatise, presenting the primary source for his social and productive garden theory, from urban parks to housing settlements with allotment gardens.
Organic cycleCommunityFood educationLeberecht Migge et la colonie agricole évolutive « selon les principes biologiques »
2013Jaquand C. · In Situ. Revue des patrimoines, no. 21 · Germany
Examines Migge's landscape designs for urban extensions in Berlin, Frankfurt and Dessau and his organic city-garden relationship based on recycling water and urban waste, including the evolving self-sufficient settlement system of his 1932 book.
Organic cycleEconomicsWelfareAnálisis de las características técnicas y sociales asociadas a procesos de compostaje comunitario: Estudio de caso en el huerto urbano comunitario L'Hortet del Forat y sistematización de la experiencia
2012Javier Varona Espallargas · RECAM Metropolitan Knowledge Repository · Spain (Barcelona)
This study analyzes community self-composting at the L'Hortet del Forat urban community garden in Barcelona, Spain. It aims to assess the potential for waste prevention and management, and to identify the social characteristics of users engaging in this practice.
CompostCommunityOrganic cycleWaste management and peri-urban agriculture in the early modern Scottish burgh
2011Richard Oram · Stirling Online Research Repository (University of Stirling) · United Kingdom
This paper reviews geoarchaeological evidence and analyzes documentary records from 17 Scottish burghs to explore waste management and peri-urban agriculture in early modern Scotland. The study illustrates the central role of urban waste as manure in burgess agriculture. Burgh regulations revealed changing cultural attitudes towards waste in the 17th and 18th centuries, but urban waste remained in demand as fertilizer in the hinterland of many Scottish towns until the late 19th century.
Peri-urban agricultureOrganic cycleRealising ecological sustainability in community gardens: a capability approach
2011Alma Clavin · Local Environment · Europe
This paper reports on the multiple impacts that community garden design may have on the subjective well-being of site users, using the capability approach as a normative framework. Qualitative research conducted in five community garden sites in the UK and Ireland in early 2011 yielded new explanations for both sustainable design and well-being. Two key design aspects, agency and dynamic balance, were found to enhance both the sustainability of the community garden sites and the well-being of site users.
CommunityHealthBiodiversityOrganic cycleRESOURCE RECOVERY AND MATERIALS FLOW IN THE CITY
2011Steffen Lehmann · Journal of Green Building · Europe
This paper discusses resource recovery and materials flow in cities, noting that urban farming has emerged as a valid urban design strategy in Europe, contributing to local food production, organic waste composting, and biodiversity. It reports on best practices for implementing zero waste, including adaptive re-use and design for disassembly, and identifies that the construction and demolition sector is a major waste producer. A key finding is that achieving 'zero-waste' requires strong industry leadership, new policies, effective education, and refocused research agendas.
Urban–rural linkageCompostOrganic cycleBiodiversityCommunityClimate changeWhen Modern Was Green: Life and Work of Landscape Architect Leberecht Migge
2010Haney D. H. · Routledge · Germany
The first book to fully document Migge's life and work, presenting him as a central figure across garden reform, urban planning, the Siedlungen housing movement, and organic architecture and planning, with extensive archival illustrations.
Organic cycleCommunityWelfareLeberecht Migge's "Green Manifesto": Envisioning a Revolution of Gardens
2007Haney D. H. · Landscape Journal, 26(2), 201-218 · Germany
Analyzes Migge's 1919 'Green Manifesto', one of the most overtly political tracts by a landscape architect, proposing that intensive vegetable gardens for everyone could solve Germany's social and economic problems through a technologically modern synthesis of garden and dwelling.
Organic cycleCommunityPolicyDetermination of chromium in soil of Lodz gardens
2005B. Jankiewicz, B. Ptaszyński · Polish Journal of Environmental Studies · Poland
This study determined the levels of bioavailable and total chromium (III) and chromium (VI) in the soil of an allotment garden located in the center of Łódź, Poland. Chromium was measured using the spectrophotometric method and atomic absorption spectrometry. The research also examined the effects of iron and copper ions on the determination results.
Contamination & food safetyOrganic cycleSustainable Implant and EVA Centre, Culemborg; a hub for Sustainable Development
2004Arjan van Timmeren, Wiek Röling, Marleen Kaptein · · Netherlands (Culemborg)
This paper focuses on an innovation in urban development in the Lanxmeer district of Culemborg, Netherlands. A "Sustainable Implant (SI)" based on permaculture and organic design principles will be built in conjunction with the EVA-Center and an ecological city-farm. The SI functions as an interconnector for three "essential" flows in urban planning, such as wastewater management and energy generation, facilitating both vertical and horizontal integration. It is considered a sustainable hub operating at three scales: the Culemborg region, the Lanxmeer urban district, and the nearby EVA Center.
Organic cycleClimate changeFood sovereignty & justiceCommunityLes jardins familiaux dans l’arc méditerranéen : cent ans d’agriculture dans la ville. Analyse comparative de trois agglomérations : Marseille, Gênes et Barcelone
2004Jean-Noël Consalès · Mélanges de l École française de Rome Italie et Méditerranée · France (Marseille), Italy (Genoa), Spain (Barcelona)
This comparative analysis traces one hundred years of urban agriculture in the Mediterranean arc, focusing on family gardens in Marseille (France), Genoa (Italy), and Barcelona (Spain). It identifies three major stages: from the 19th century to post-WWII, family gardens developed in France; during the Trente Glorieuses, they declined in France but emerged in Italy and Spain; and since the mid-1970s, the diffusion of ecological values has conferred important territorial functions upon family gardens.
CommunityEconomicsOrganic cycle"No House Building without Garden Building!" ("Kein Hausbau ohne Landbau!"): The Modern Landscapes of Leberecht Migge
2001Haney D. H. · Journal of Architectural Education, 54(3), 149-157 · Germany
Examines Migge's designs for Weimar-era Siedlungen of small flats and row houses with adjacent garden plots, arguing that landscape was central to competing visions of interwar modernity and that productive gardens were integral to modern housing.
CommunityEconomicsOrganic cycle